The Lakers had a rare terrible shooting performance, going
24-of-76 (31.6 percent) from the field. But the Lakers' weakness
at the free throw line proved to be the team's ultimate undoing.

The team shot 23-of-43 (53.5 percent) from the line, leaving 20
significant points on the table. In the final minute, Dwight
Howard and Metta World Peace missed four consecutive free throws
with the Pacers' up by one.

The failure at the charity stripe is a real problem for the
Lakers moving forward. They are the second-worst free-throw
shooting team in the league, hitting just 66.8 percent per game.
And in half of the Lakers' losses, their missed free throws have
outnumbered the margin of victory.

Teams are picking up on it. In the Lakers' 85-80 win over the
Brooklyn Nets last week, Nets head coach Avery Johnson was the
first to deploy
the 'Hack-a-Dwight' method that got his team the lead, but
ultimately Kobe Bryant bailed them out.

The Lakers will be able to adjust to head coach Mike D'Antoni's
up-tempo offensive scheme and the newly-established lineup will
learn to jell, but in a tight contest against the elite teams in
the league, one thing the Lakers need to figure out is how to
capitalize on those free opportunities.